10 Hard Rock Musicians Who Were Almost In 2 Legendary Bands

KISS were at a bit of a crossroads towards the start of the '80s. With Peter Criss out the door and Ace Frehley trailing not too far after him, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were still trying to hold onto the mystique of the four shock rockers clad head to toe in makeup. Though Creatures of the Night had a virtual revolving door of guest guitar players, one of them could have introduced these leather-clad badasses to the world of hair metal.

Instead of settling on Vinnie Vincent, one of the young hopefuls who auditioned at the time was an up and coming glam rock guitarist named Jay Jay French. Though Jay Jay had been earning his chops on the New York and New Jersey club circuit, he saw this as an opportunity to fast-track his way into the big leagues of rock and roll.

However, French is quick to point out that he was nowhere close to filling Frehley's shoes at that stage. When asked about it recently, French clears everything up by saying that his audition was a failure right from the start, with none of the band members or their management calling him back afterwards. It's almost a shame, considering that KISS would eventually take their makeup off to transition into the glam rock movement that Jay Jay pioneered with Twisted Sister. KISS have been known for being the first at a lot of hard rock trends, but they really lost the opportunity to add hair metal trailblazers to their list as well.